The Lost Boys: Are You In?
by Taylor Moore
Summary: Emma has some information that the Frog brothers want. The only problem is, Emma isn't sure she wants to help. Will she join the boys in their mission to exterminate the undead? Prequel fic, rated T for language and some horror.
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note

Hi everyone! It has been an extremely long time, and this fic has been a long time coming; I've been away from fanfiction for quite a while, and I've been thinking about editing stuff and re-doing fics for years.

This week I thought to hell with it, and I've just started doing full-on ret cons of my old fics. I've completely changed my OC - Blanche was not very rounded and she had way too many frayed storylines under her belt. Instead, I'm carrying on my version of the Lost Boys universe with Emma, who you'll meet in this fic.

I don't know if anyone I used to read or write for is still around, but if you are - hi :) And of course, if you're new to my writing - hi :) I hope you enjoy this new fic. Let me know how it is!

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Chapter 1

Emma loved summer. Aside from not being in school – and thus not being around the people at school - she had time to do whatever she wanted. Last year she had spent a lot of time outside in the sun. She had been trying to get a tan; that is until she got such a bad sunburn that she couldn't sleep with blankets for two weeks. After that she accepted that her skin was not made for sunbathing. This year she got her fair share of sunlight, but instead of spending days at the beach, she took to visiting the Santa Carla library instead.

She by all means looked like a nerd – when she was reading she wore thick glasses that made her eyes look huge, and until last month she had big wire braces that hurt like hell and looked even worse. At school this meant that she caught hell from most of her classmates. Bookworm, they called her – among a slew of other awful things. This summer, however, Emma decided to embrace her bookworm status, spending hours reading any book in the library that interested her – naturally she got bored of trashy paperbacks over the weeks, and quickly moved to scouring old, dusty leather-bound books. The library had closed a while ago, but Emma hadn't felt like going home just yet; the weather had been nice and she'd been cooped up for hours, so she ended up staying out much longer than she intended.

As darkness fell on Santa Carla, she clutched her bookbag, which was a little heavier than normal – she had worked her way into the old, dusty mythology section of the library, so today her bag happened to contain a large and barely legible book on vampires.

It was a warm night, with a gentle breeze, so she decided to wander on the boardwalk a little. She liked the boardwalk a lot; the people were always laughing and enjoying themselves, and she liked to hear the music from the main stage. However, tonight was probably not the best night for the boardwalk – as she approached the entrance, she noticed that the local gang, the Surf Nazis, were harassing people, grabbing them and yelling incoherently. She had been warned against going near them in the past, and she was more than happy to take that advice. Tonight was no exception. Instead, she wandered across the streets until she came to the beach.

She had never gone this way at night time before, and she was in the mood for a little adventure – but she didn't want to go too far onto the beach, staying within earshot of the street to be on the safe side. Travelling on no particular route, she soon found herself at a large group of trees at the top of a hill. It was much colder up here; Emma pulled her jacket closer to her body, bringing her already crossed arms tighter around her waist, trying to ease off her shivering. Something caught the corner of her eye, drawing her attention to the beach below.

A fight was breaking out, large bonfires drawing out the long, frantic shadows of the fighters. With a gasp, Emma hid behind the trunk of one of the trees, watching the bloody brawl with a fearful interest. Men thrashed and struggled under the vice-like grip of their opponents. Sharp canines ripped through veins and tore already scarred skin, mouths lapped up still warm blood that spurted from arteries and veins. Fresh blood stained the sand at the winning gang's feet as the bodies of their late enemies grew limp and lifeless. As the group laughed, she caught a flash of their fangs.

'Oh my god.' Emma whispered with a repulsed awe. 'They're vampires!'

The bodies had been thrown haphazardly into the bonfires nearby. The group walked away, staggering slightly, tipsy with blood. The shortest of the four made direct eye contact with Emma. She shrank back, eyes wide open. He glowered at her and began to walk over, a look of absolute rage on his face.

She had been discovered. She had no choice - she had to run. She didn't dare look back as she raced off, clutching the straps of her bookbag as she went.

'Hey!' The vampire snarled, 'Get back here!'

She sprinted through alleys chosen at random, avoiding the larger, rowdier crowds. She could hardly breathe and her feet were beginning to ache, but she couldn't stop. The vampire was not too far away, only a couple of metres behind her, and his friends weren't far behind him. If she stopped at all she would no doubt be killed. To get away, she would have to join a crowd. And not just one of those small ones around a lamppost or beside a house. No, she would need a much larger crowd to make an escape possible.

She ran onto the boardwalk, no longer caring about the Surf Nazis. She ran through the larger throngs of the area, masking herself in the crowd. She heard the vampire shout from a distance, his voice faint but still very threatening.

'If I catch you around here again, you're dead!' He barked.

She looked around. No sign of the vampire. She'd lost him.

With a relieved sigh, she hunched over, trying to catch her breath. Her chest rose and fell with laboured gasps as she re-payed some severe oxygen debt. When she got her breath back, she took some time to figure out where exactly she was.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The light surrounding her was warm and a little garish – but then that was what the boardwalk was always like. Her heart beat was beginning to slow down. She felt a little safer, but time was catching up with her. Soon everywhere would be closed for the night, and Emma would most likely be in danger. That vampire sounded serious. Dead serious.

She tried to think of a plan; she needed to go home, but was afraid of being tracked or running into the vampires again. She didn't have any friends that ran anything on the boardwalk, and her house was a little far away. If she went to the police they'd think she was a nutjob and would probably lock her up.

She decided it would be better to walk and think at the same time. Looking at the storefronts, she tried to find some kind of paranormal place or something. She knew there was one on the boardwalk somewhere; then she realised she was near the entrance and the paranormal store was at the very back of the boardwalk. By the time she got there everyone would be gone. Without skipping a beat, she caught the name on the storefront – Frog Comics.

Wait a minute. Frog, that name sounded familiar. She was sure she had at least heard of somebody named Frog.

Before she had time to figure it out, the tannoy above her screeched into life.

'Ladies and gentlemen, the boardwalk is now closing. Please make your way to the nearest exit, and we'll see you again real soon!'

The security guard on the other end of the tannoy coughed gruffly before ending the announcement. As soon as he finished, the crowd started to leave, almost pushing Emma outside.

 _If I leave now, I'm a goner._ She thought. _I'll have to take my chances with the Frog people._

As she approached the comic book store, she noticed that the door had been slid shut and locked. The sign was now turned to 'Closed'. The lights were still on though, and the music that had been playing inside had gotten quieter instead of switching off.

Taking a deep breath, Emma knocked on the door, the idea of the vampire approaching her making her tremble slightly. There was no response from the people in the store at first. Emma knocked on the door again, her confidence building just a little. A shadowy figure approached the door, which clicked and slid open very slightly.

Emma was met by a young boy, about her age, with dark eyes, and a red sash underneath his shaggy brown hair. Her eyes lit up with recognition.

'You're Edgar, right?' She asked. 'Edgar Frog?'

The moment she saw him she recognised him; it was Edgar from her English class. She didn't know him very well and they had never spoken, but she thought he was a decent guy – he didn't come across as a bully, anyway. He scowled disapprovingly, eyeing her up and down.

'We're closed.' He said gruffly, about to slam the door. Emma put her foot in the way, and in a final act of desperation she blurted her story, rapidly at first, but soon calming down and talking at a reasonably slower pace.

'I know, but please, just listen to me. I was chased by this guy, and he's got it out for me, and I know it sounds crazy but I think he was a vampire,' - Here the boy raised an eyebrow - 'And I know you're probably really busy and everything and you might think I'm totally insane but I just really need to hide for a while. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to hide here. Please.'

The boy simply stared for a minute, clearly mulling everything over. He was now leaning in the doorway, blocking the path inside with his arms crossed. Emma took her foot away from the door and got ready to walk away, disappointed with his reaction. As she turned around, he shook his head with a sigh.

'Alan's not going to like this.' He muttered, swinging the door open without another word.

Emma stood on the doorstep, staring at him in confusion. Realising that she didn't follow, he nodded towards the hall. She took a nervous step inside. Keeping his back to the wall, he closed and locked the door. It looked a little awkward, like he was making it more difficult for himself. She followed him as he walked further inside.

The store looked like a nice place, with dim, colourful lighting and a slight hint of dry ice in the air around her. There were plenty of different comics around, some even framed in panes of glass. It was a really big store; of course, it was late night, so no-one was there. Maybe it just looked smaller during the day.

The boy stopped in his tracks, the scowl never leaving his face.

'Stay here.' He ordered as he backed away from her steadily. When he reached the wall he kept watching her, feeling around for the door handle. Emma had to bite her tongue to keep from giggling at him. Finding the hands, he went through the door, slamming and bolting a door behind him. Emma raised her eyebrows when he was out of sight.

 _He didn't turn his back on me once._ She thought. _Weird._

Emma heard him stomp up some stairs and slam another door. Curious, she leaned against the door to see if she could hear more; she could only just catch Edgar talking with someone else; she couldn't catch any exact words, but once she heard a loud, surprised shout. She turned to look around the shop some more, and jumped, squeaking slightly.

A couple sat behind the counter, completely motionless. The woman was hugging one of her knees, while the man sat with his arms crossed. Both had very long hair and dressed in clothes that looked like they were trapped in the 60s. From that, Emma gathered they were either stoned or just incredibly deep sleepers.

Someone cleared their throat behind Emma, and she turned with a slight jump. It was only Edgar, who stood with his arms crossed.

'My brother wants to meet you.' He said. 'Follow me.'


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

She followed him up a steep flight of steps, which came to what looked like a completely normal, albeit messy, kitchen. An oven, a fridge, a few counter tops and a dining table. He locked the door behind her.

Another boy, who must have been his older brother, sat at the table, his back straightened, his gaze fixed on Emma. He nodded a greeting, and motioned for her to sit down in the chair in front of her. Edgar leaned against one of the counter tops, his arms crossed, watching the two. She sat down uneasily, hoping she could hide the rapidly increasing shyness that was coming over her. The fact that Edgar had locked the door hadn't helped; now if it turned out they were really creepy, she would be trapped.

Edgar's brother cleared his throat. 'So, you were chased by a vampire, huh?'

'Uh huh. At least, I think so. I saw a group of them attacking another gang at the beach.'

As she spoke, the boy raised his eyebrows at Edgar, signaling something. Edgar fetched a clear plastic bottle from the fridge and poured some water into a glass behind Emma.

'Any of them get up?'

'No. It was a total bloodbath. And the bodies were burned.'

Emma watched as Edgar placed the glass in front of her, looking pointedly at his brother before returning to his place at the counter.

'You must be thirsty,' The boy at the table said with a smirk. 'Take a drink.'

Emma's heart started to pound. She was locked in a kitchen with two strange boys and they were giving her drinks. How did she know she could trust them? For all she knew, the drink could be spiked with something. She grasped the glass, shakily lifting it to her mouth. The water - if it was water - didn't smell funny. When she opened her mouth, it didn't taste funny. Then again, she thought there were probably some poisons or drugs that were tasteless...

Emma decided to take a chance now and move on from there. The boys hadn't lured her here, after all, so it wasn't likely that they were up to anything creepy. Plus, all the running and really had made her throat really dry. They smirked at her when she downed the entire glass after one tentative sip. When she noticed this, dread began to creep through her body.

'What did I just drink?' She asked, her voice shaking.

'Just holy water,' the boy at the table said. 'Don't worry, we're not gonna hurt you. You're clean.'

Edgar scoffed. Emma shot a playful glare at him, which he returned along with his trademark scowl – but she caught the corners of his mouth twitching a little. Alan cleared his throat.

'I hear that you know Edgar already.'

'I wouldn't say we know each other,' She said. 'Not that well. We were just in the same English class last year.'

So, what's your name?'

'Emma Kane. You?'

The older brother looked her in the eyes again. 'Alan Frog.'

…

The boys spent the next while asking Emma all kinds of questions; what exactly happened at the beach, the basic descriptions of whoever was there, if she had interacted with the vampires at all. They listened intently as Emma told them the whole story, stopping her every so often for extra details. They took great interest in her being chased by the vampires; however, there was one burning question that they saved until last.

'So, what makes you absolutely certain that they were vampires?' Edgar asked.

'I noticed their fangs after they had killed everyone,' She said, taking the large vampire book out of her bookbag. 'It says here-'

'Wait,' Alan said. 'What is this?'

'A book from the Santa Carla library. I've been poking around there all summer – it's a really old book about vampires and vampire hunting, and there's a whole section in here on fangs.'

She found an illustration of an ugly creature with short but sharp canines. It was crawling on all fours, its face contorted into an inhuman snarl - not unlike the vampires at the beach.

'Their fangs looked almost exactly like this.' She said.

Alan glanced over to the section she was pointing to, but couldn't make anything of it from his side of the table. He gestured towards the book.

'Can I take a look?'

'Of course.' She pushed the book across the table to him.

Alan spent some time gently flicking through the pages, occasionally nodding his head or murmering his approval. Edgar too became curious, and he peered over his brothers shoulder. For a moment Emma saw him let his guard down; his scowl vanished and for a moment he looked excited. For a moment she thought she caught him smiling. Until he saw Emma staring at him, then the scowl came back in full force. After a while, Alan looked back to Emma; he seemed pleased, almost impressed.

'Emma, would you mind if my brother and I talk for a minute?' He asked.

'Not at all.'

Alan nodded towards a door across the room, and Edgar nodded at Alan. The two stood, marching through the door. Edgar, as he seemed to always do, slammed it behind him. Some time later, the two returned – Alan had a slight smirk on his face.

'Emma,' He said. 'What you have here is a lot of valuable information. Information that could prove to be invaluable for us – and that could save your life, if you know how to use it.'

Emmas eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

'How much do you know about Santa Carla?' Edgar asked.

'Well, there's not much to say.' She said. It's just a town by the beach.'

Edgar scoffed. Alan shot him a look.

'You're wrong.' He said. 'There's way more going on in Santa Carla than you think.'

'Santa Carla is crawling with vampires,' Edgar said. 'Always has been.'


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Emma blinked slowly, unable to respond. Her gut instinct at any other time would have been that this was all bullshit. However, having been chased by not one, but four vampires, she was not inclined to argue.

'We've known about this situation for some time.' Edgar continued. 'You see, working here is just our cover; we have devoted our lives to hunting down and destroying all nightcrawlers and bloodsuckers.'

'That's very noble and all, but why are you telling me this?'

'We've been doing a lot of research on vampires,' Alan said. 'And what we've found has been incredibly useful. But this' – here he gestured to Emmas book – 'is something we've never seen before. This book looks like it's got more information on vampires than we could ever have imagined, and it was right under our noses this whole time.'

Emma still didn't know what he was aiming for. 'If you want to borrow it, that's fine. I can just come by in the next couple of days and pick it up.'

Edgar shook his head. 'It's not as simple as that.'

'But why?'

Alan sighed, somewhat irritated. 'We don't get a lot of our information from books. Mainly because we can't read any of this shit.'

'This is where you come in, Emma.' Edgar stepped forward, opening the book and pointing to a paragraph. 'Tell us what this means.'

Emma moved to look at the passage, but then remembered her glasses when she couldn't make out the letters. She pulled her glasses out of her front pocket.

'Woah.' Alan said, noticing the thickness of the lens.

Emma looked over her lenses sarcastically and Alan shut his mouth. She read over the passage carefully, taking a few moments to figure out the exact meaning of the words.

'Basically garlic isn't always effective on its own. To make sure it works you need some other vampire deterrent alongside it, like a cross.'

Edgar stared at Emma as she spoke, then sharply looked away when she turned to him. He swallowed, occasionally glancing back at her. He looked nervous, but excited, and Emma took that to be a good thing.

'We have a proposition for you, Emma.' Alan said. 'You know the truth about Santa Carla, and you can't just deny anything ever happened. For your own safety, you need to learn more.'

Edgar cut in seamlessly. 'We need all the information on vampires we can get, but we can't read this kind of stuff on our own. Long story short, we could use each others help.'

This speech had clearly been rehearsed, probably while the boys were in the other room. Alan continued;

'We want you to work with us as a researcher; you get through this book, and any other books like this you can find, and let us know what it all means. In return, we'll share with you everything we know about vampires and how to stop them.'

'And provide our protection whenever you need it.'

Emma was taken aback by Edgars last statement. 'Protection?'

'You're a civilian,' He explained. 'You've had no training in vampire hunting and you were nearly attacked tonight. It's likely that the vampires that chased you will be keeping an eye out for you, and if they find you off-guard then they could kill you – or worse, turn you. If you join us, we'll do everything in our power to keep you safe from them and any other vampire threats.'

This was all happening very quickly, and Emma was overwhelmed. In the space of one night she'd gone from the quiet nerd who spent her days alone in the library to potentially being hunted by a pack of vampires because she'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now she had to consider whether she wanted to be part of a vampire hunting team on top of all that.

However, the main thing on her mind was the concept of the Frog Brothers' protection; looking at the two they didn't really look like they could fight another human, never mind a vampire. She couldn't help but wonder, what was she getting into? Would they hound her endlessly, or stand by her side every second of every day? They were awfully eager for her to help out; if she was going to do this, she had to figure out exactly what was going to happen.

'What do you think Emma?' Alan asked. 'Are you in?'

Emma looked from Alan to Edgar, unsure what exactly to say. It felt like her head was too full of everything, and she was feeling quite sleepy. She looked to the clock behind Alans head and realised it was after eleven. Emma had been out since ten thirty that morning. Her mom was bound to be furious with her by now, having not heard from her all day.

Panic beginning to set in, she nodded towards the clock.

'Is that really the time?'

Edgar glanced at the clock, then at his watch.

'Yep.'

 _Oh shit_ , She thought. _Mom's going to freak!_

'What, are you stalling?' Edgar growled.

'No, it's not that. Listen, can I borrow your phone real quick? It's just that I've been out all day and my mom will be going nuts. I swear I'll think about your offer, but I need to let her know what's going on.'

'You can't tell her anything about the vampires,' Alan said. 'She'll either think you're crazy or you're lying.'

'I swear I won't. I'll call my mom, then maybe we can talk about your offer some more.'

The boys lead her to the phone downstairs. Emma was really nervous; she'd never been out past her curfew, and her mother, while not the most severe parent ever, was a stickler for rules. This was bound to earn her at least a week of being grounded. So much for the library; now she had to put up with hearing her sister playing the same Madonna album all day. At full volume.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Listening to the dial tone, Emma took a deep breath. This was not going to be fun. She noticed that the boys were still standing beside her as she took the call; it seemed that they were going to be protecting her from her own nerves as well.

Her mom answered the phone, and she sounded shaken. Emma felt a pang of guilt.

'Hey, mom.'

She had to hold the handset away from her ear for a moment as her mom yelled at her. How she had been so worried about her, the thoughts she'd had that her daughter had been kidnapped or hurt or worse. Emma cringed. Now she had angered her mother and embarrassed herself in front of the boys.

'I'm sorry, mom. '

Soon her mothers voice quietened down and she could put the headset back by her ear. Out of the corner of her eye, Emma saw Alan reach for something.

'You made me so scared, Emma,' her mother said. 'What on earth were you doing out so late?'

Alan tapped her shoulder. He had a notepad in his hand, and had written her a message;

TELL HER YOU'RE WITH US.

Emma looked at him like he had asked her to marry him. There was no way that would do anything. He wrote another note;

TRUST ME. JUST DO IT.

Emma was unconvinced, but decided to go with it.

'I went to the library, then when that closed I went to the boardwalk for a while. I met up with some friends and we've been hanging out and I lost track of time. Sorry, mom.'

The line went quiet for a moment.

'Mom?'

She heard her mother shuffle.

'You were out with friends?'

Her tone was almost approving. She smiled at Alan; whatever he had in mind seemed to be working.

'Yeah, I made friends with a couple of boys on the boardwalk. I've been hanging out at their place for a while.'

Her mother spluttered.

'Boys?' She said, evidently surprised. 'Which boys?'

Alan tapped Emmas shoulder again, gesturing to take the phone.

'You can talk to them if you want. I'll hand you over.'

Alan took the phone from her, smiling.

'Hello, ma'am,' he said, his tone bright and cheerful. 'Sorry to have worried you. Please don't worry, Emma's been with us since she left the library. She's perfectly safe.'

Emma looked to Edgar. 'What's that all about?'

'This is what Alan does,' Edgar said. 'He has a very strong cover, he's good at calming down the civilians. What'll probably happen is you'll get home, everything will be cool and your mom will approve of your new – what did you call us – friends?' He smirked.

Emma just shoved his shoulder with a smile. He shoved back gently.

Alan chuckled at something on the other end of the line. Emma had to admit, the boy was smooth. She might not get grounded after all.

'I understand it's late, ma'am,' He said. 'And Emma's been out for a while. My brother and I would be happy to walk her home so she gets back safe.'

There was some chittering and giggling on the other end of the line; Emma's mom had been won over.

'Of course, we'll head off right now,' Alan said. 'You have a good night, ma'am.'

He handed the phone back to Emma with a triumphant grin.

'Hey, mom.'

'Now Emma,' Her mother said. 'I don't approve of you spending the entire day and half of the night out. However, I can also see this was a genuine mistake. I want you to come home right now, ok?'

'Ok, mom.'

'And Emma, your new friends better take you home, it's not safe for girls to be out alone at night.'

'Yes, mom.'

'You know, it's nice to hear you have some new friends, you've been spending too much time by yourself. That Alan is a real sweetie. Is he cute?'

'Mom!'

Emma heard the boys chuckling in the corner, and her mother laughed. She shot them a look.

'I'll be home soon, mom. See you later.'

With that, she hung up the phone, a blush beginning to dust her cheeks. The boys smirked as they got their gear together, switched out the lights and left.

…

The boys cycled their way to Emmas house with her on the back of Edgars bike. She was still reeling about everything that had happened. Now she just wanted to get some sleep and forget about everything for a while – and avoid her mothers questions. She really didn't want her mom to linger on how cute the boys were or were not and who she did and did not have to put her arms around while they took her home.

After a few minutes cycling across the now deserted town, they made it to Emmas house. It was small, only one floor, but had big windows that let a lot of sunlight in during the day. The curtains were closed but the garage door was open; dad was working the night shift.

The boys stopped the bikes in her driveway. Edgar helped Emma to climb off his bike before jumping off himself. Emma wanted to make her goodbye as quick as possible so that her mom wouldn't come out and act weird in front of the boys; so when Alan stopped her from walking to the door she got a little irritated.

'Alan, if you don't let me go inside, my mom will come out and gawk at you guys forever.'

'Before you go, we need to give you this.'

He handed her a comic book from his back pocket. The image of a black cloaked vampire with slicked back hair and long, snake-like fangs dominated the cover. Above the vampire and his horde of the undead were the words 'Vampires Everywhere'. Emma took it with a slight grimace.

'Thanks, but horror's really not my thing.'

'Just take it. This could save your life.' He said.

'And if you turn it over, our number's on the back,' Edgar said, walking up to Emma. 'Call us anytime if you need anything.'


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

As if on cue, the front door to Emmas house opened, and a thin woman in a pink fuzzy dressing gown and white slippers hurried down the doorstep and onto the driveway; Emmas mom. Emma felt part of herself die right there, dreading whatever her mom was about to say to them.

'Emma, are these your new friends?' She squealed, hurrying towards them. 'Now, which one of you is which?'

Alan smiled and held out his hand. 'I'm Alan, ma'am. We talked on the phone?'

'Oh, so you're Alan.' She giggled, shaking his hand before turning to Edgar. 'And who is this?'

'This is my brother Edgar,' Alan said, turning to Emma's mom. 'He's a bit shy, so he doesn't talk much.'

'Oh, I see. Well, it's nice to meet you Edgar.'

Edgar nodded in greeting.

'Well, my name is Cheryl.' Said Emma's mom, looking from one brother to the next. 'You kids are welcome over here anytime – just not the middle of the night, ok?'

Alan gave Cheryl his best warm grin. Emma shook her head. Cheryl turned to Emma.

'Emma, where's your bag?'

A cold chill of surprise went through Emma; she had left her bookbag, the one with the extremely old and extremely rare book inside, on the kitchen table at the Frog brothers' house. Almost on cue, the penny dropped for the boys as well.

'She left it at our place.' Edgar said.

'It's still on the kitchen table.' Alan said.

'I forgot to pick it up before I left.' Emma said.

Cheryl shook her head. 'Well, you'll just have to go and get it tomorrow. For now, get inside and get some sleep – and you boys better head on home. You never know who's lurking around at night.'

The boys nodded, bid Emma their goodbyes and cycled away into the night.

As Emma walked into their hallway, Cheryl smiled at her. She felt much calmer now she knew that her daughter was safe. Now she was just glad Emma had been socialising and the boys had been nice enough. Right now, Emma seemed a little awkward and embarrassed, and Cheryl felt a little like teasing her. She noticed that Emma was trying to hide something behind her back, shuffling close to the wall with her hand behind her.

'What's that you've got?'

'It's nothing, just a comic book the guys gave me.'

Cheryl looked over as Emma waved the comic in her hand, trying to be nonchalant; what Emma didn't realise was Edgar had written their phone number on the back of the comic in thick black sharpie. The same thick black sharpie that Cheryl could see right now.

'Ooh, you met two boys in one day AND they give you their number?'

'Mom!'


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The next day Emma skipped the library, mostly because she had left her library card in the bookbag yesterday, but also because she wanted to talk to the Frog brothers again. She needed to figure out exactly what was going to happen if she accepted their offer.

The comic book store was quiet as she wandered in; the Frog parents were in what must have been their regular sleeping spot, and the boys were stocking up one of the shelves near the back wall. She saw Edgar clock her, then tap Alan on the shoulder. The boys put down their boxes and walked towards her in unison. There were no more warm smiles or laughter; now the boys were all business.

'I should probably thank you for covering my ass last night.' Emma said.

Alan smirked. 'Anytime.'

'I came back to get my bookbag, and to discuss the offer.'

Edgar moved behind Alan and went upstairs. A few moments later, he returned with the bookbag and handed it to Emma.

'Thank you. Now, if I take you up on this offer – and at this stage it's still an if – then I need to understand a few things. First off, define protection.'

'We'll be on call 24/7,' Edgar said. 'You can call us, or come straight here, and we'll do what we can.'

Emma frowned. 'What does that mean?'

'Well, it depends entirely on the situation. We can eliminate a threat, or we can give you somewhere safe to hide for a while. The exact details will have to be covered on a case by case basis.'

'Also, I can call your mom whenever something's up,' Alan said. 'She seems to like me.'

Emma rolled her eyes. 'So when it comes to working, what will I actually be doing? Like am I here, or someplace else?'

'All up to you,' Alan said. 'You'd be in charge of research, so if you'd rather do that someplace like the library or your place, then that's fine, but you can also spend some time here working so you're not on your own and we get the information faster.'

'The only condition is to never share anything you find over the phone,' Edgar said. 'We have reason to believe that many of the powers running Santa Carla are ghouls and werewolves, and if they're surveilling us then we don't want them to get any evidence.'

'We'd prefer if you wrote down whatever you found, then brought it to us in person. It's safer that way.'

Had she not seen a pack of vampires yesterday, Emma would probably have laughed in his face.

'So, do I need to keep this top secret? Like I can't show anyone?'

'You can never tell anyone what we're doing here. That's why Alan set up your cover – to any outside observer you'll be spending your time in the library reading or chasing the affections of the boys on the boardwalk. Only we will know what's really going on.'

Emma really needed some time to think about this; it looked like this was going to be a complex, secretive thing that would involve lying to her parents – and anybody else who got curious – and taking notes that nobody would be allowed to see with the exception of her and the Frog brothers. It felt like she would be living a double life, or she'd be like a spy for the paranormal. It didn't sound too safe. Unless…

'Alright boys, I'm willing to help you guys out.'

The boys were visibly excited, but Emma held a hand up to pause them.

'One more condition. What you're telling me and asking of me feels like a lot, and to be honest it's a little scary. I want to help out as a researcher, but I want the option to back out if it gets too much or too dangerous.'

'Not an option,' Edgar said. 'If you're in this, you're in for the long haul. There's no such thing as backing out or taking time off when it comes to the undead. They will never stop, they'll just keep hunting and feeding until there's nobody left.'

Edgar took a step forward, looking her dead in the eyes.

'If you do this, you're not just doing this for us, or for yourself. You're doing this for Santa Carla. For everybody here, anyone who's had somebody they care about go missing, anybody who's been bit and anybody who could be. It's not just something to kill time over summer; it's about stopping the undead in their tracks and saving peoples lives. Now, are you in or not?'

She looked at Edgar, trying to decide what to do. Then she caught the look in his eyes. He was still making direct eye contact, but his expression had changed. He looked like he was pleading with her, like he was trying to find something to say that would convince her to do it. He looked like it would be the end of the world if she said no.

Torn, Emma put the idea of potential danger to the back of her head, and considered what she would otherwise be doing. She would go back to going to the library, spending the entire day there, then going home for dinner and then probably just going to bed. Her mother would be disappointed that she wasn't speaking to the Frog brothers anymore and would ask why a couple times, then would stop asking after a while. She'd go back to just being Emma the boring bookworm and do exactly what she had done for the past month.

Now, if she decided to help the boys, she would be spending her time doing something with her knowledge; she would pass on what she could make out from this book, then maybe some others if she could find any, and she could talk to the boys about what they know and try to figure everything out. Also, she wouldn't disappoint Edgar, who honestly looked like he would explode any second now.

The more she mulled it over, the more she thought it sounded fun. She would be learning some things that could keep her and the rest of the town safe – and she'd be helping out the boys. Hell, she would be talking to _boys_. She'd never even been looked at by a boy – or at least one that wasn't bullying her – and now in the space of one day she had two at once that thought she was cool to be around, or at least interesting.

She could get used to this.

Taking a deep breath, Emma made her decision. She looked Edgar right back in the eye.

'Ok, boys.' She said. 'I'm in.


End file.
